I recently found concerning SEC filings from the biotech Cryo-Cell about a deal it has with a Duke team for infusions of children with unproven umbilical cord cells. This turns out to be a $58 million deal. It relates in a major way to a Duke compassionate use or expanded access program (EAP) that already had raised […]
FDA should freeze Duke EAP & probe $58 million Cryo-Cell deal linked to it Read More »
Sometimes a paper really catches your eye like a new Cell Stem Cell pub reporting eye-like structures grown on brain organoids. The paper is Human brain organoids assemble functionally integrated bilateral optic vesicles. Let’s take a quick look at this paper, its context, and the potential big-picture implications. Brain organoids with “eyes”? At first glance,
A look at “eyes on the brain organoids” Cell Stem Cell paper Read More »
One of my main interests is the relationship between stem cells and cancer as well as what makes cancer stem cells tick. This week I’ve chosen to highlight articles on the role of stem cells in cancer plus other interesting publications. Cancer pubs related to stem cells including on cancer stem cells Identification of cancer-related
Weekly reads including MSCs & cancer stem cells Read More »
The other day I gave a talk in part about stem cell hype and mentioned as an example how the idea of already doing stem cell therapy for autism seems so misguided to me now. On the whole, in my view there are major downsides and risks for autistic kids whose parents are already having
Fact-checking stem cell therapy for autism: still a risky idea Read More »
This edition of The Niche weekly reads has a bit more good news than usual including on stem cell transplants. It’s nice to see positive developments like some recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplants being able to stay at home afterwards. Also, a reminder. You have until July 31 to enter our stem cell video
The FDA grace period for stem cell clinics and others using regenerative medicine products like stem cells is over. It appears the agency is serious about enforcement moving forward. They have released several statements about the end of what they call the “enforcement discretion” period, which just means in English a grace period for marketers
Translating the FDA’s Q&A on end of stem cell grace period Read More »
How can you tell who to trust in the world of stem cell therapy? What information can a patient trust? Once upon a time about a dozen years ago it seemed a much simpler question. There were universities and biotech companies doing legit research as well as clinical trials, and there were physicians doing bone
Stem cell therapy: the good, the bad, & the muddy waters Read More »
The paper of the week is from Science on making ovarian follicles and actual eggs from stem cells. It’s just in mice, but this line of work tends to stir people up. We’ll dive into that in a moment. But first some good news. We’re up to 146 subscribers on our stem cell YouTube channel
Weekly reads: stem cells to gametes, no PRP benefit, WHO CRISPR, pubs Read More »
Who doesn’t like stem cell videos? Some of you already know that we have a stem cell YouTube channel with me, Paul Knoepfler, talking about many important topics on stem cells. The point of the channel is science-based educational outreach to people all over the world. With this in mind, I’ve been thinking it’d be
Enter The Niche stem cell videos contest with $100 prize Read More »
Could stem cell Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) research provide a potential path to future treatment or preventative measures? The goal of today’s post is to provide a review of the state of the field in this area including possible approaches and challenges. You can watch a video covering the topic by Dr. Paul Knoepfler below on
Stem cell Alzheimer’s disease research Read More »